p 

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Supplement  to 

STfje  Snnals;  OF 

THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY  OF  POLITICAL 
AND  SOCIAL  SCIENCE 

January,    1917 


The  Purposes  and  Ideals 


Mexican  Revolution 


Addresses  delivered  before  the 
Academy  by: 

Hon.  Lais  Cabrera 

Hon.  Ygnacio  Bonillas 

Hon.  Alberto  J.  Pani 

Hon.  Juan  B.  Rojo 


PHILADELPHIA 

The  American  Academy  of  Political  and  Social  Science 


Origin  and  Purpose.  The  Academy  was  organized  December 
14,  1889,  to  provide  a  national  forum  for  the  discussion  of  political  and 
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cussions, not  doctrinaire  expressions  of  opinion. 

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emy publications. 

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ncreft  ubf& 

THE  ^URPOSES   AND   IDEALS   OF 
MEXICAN   REVOLUTION 


Addresses    delivered    at   a   joint   session    of    the 

American  Academy  of  Political  and  Social  Science 

^tmd    the    Pennsylvania    Arbitration    and    Peace 

Society,  held  on  Friday  evening,  November  10,  1916 


HON.  LUIS  CABRERA 

MINISTER  OF  FINANCE  OF  MEXICO  AND  CHAIRMAN  OF  THE  MEXICAN 
SECTION  OF  THE  AMERICAN  AND  MEXICAN  JOINT  COMMISSION 

HON.  YGNACIO  BONILLAS 

MINISTER  OF  COMMUNICATIONS  AND  PUBLIC  WORKS  OF  MEXICO  AND 
MEMBER  OF  THE  AMERICAN  AND  MEXICAN  JOINT  COMMISSION 

HON.  ALBERTO  J.  PANI 

DIRECTOR  GENERAL  OF  THE  CONSTITUTIONALIST  RAILWAYS  OF  MEXICO 
AND  MEMBER  OF  THE  AMERICAN  AND  MEXICAN  JOINT  COMMISSION 

HON.  JUAN  B.  ROJO 

COUNSELLOR  OF  THE  STATE  DEPARTMENT  OF  MEXICO  AND  SECRETARY 

OF  THE  MEXICAN  SECTION  OF  THE  AMERICAN  AND 

MEXICAN  JOINT  COMMISSION 

With  concluding  remarks  by 

L.  S.  ROWE 

President  of  the  American  Academy  of  Political 
and  Social  Science 


PHILADELPHIA 

THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY  OF  POLITICAL  AND  SOCIAL  SCIENCE 
1917 


^35 

•47 


Copyright,  1917,  by 

THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY  OF  POLITICAL  AND  SOCIAL  SCIENCE 
All  rights  reserved. 


FOREWORD 

BY  L.  S.  ROWE,  PH.D.,  LL.D., 

President  of  the  Academy 

The  addresses  printed  herewith  were  delivered  at  a  joint 
meeting  of  the  American  Academy  of  Political  "and  Social  Science 
and  the  Pennsylvania  Arbitration  and  Peace  Society  on  the  evening 
of  Friday,  November  10,  1916.  The  importance  of  the  occasion, 
as  well  as  the  significance  of  the  addresses,  make  it  desirable  to 
place  them  in  the  hands  of  every  member  of  the  Academy.  The 
American  public  has  never  had  an  opportunity  to  form  a  judgment 
of  the  purposes  of  the  Mexican  Revolution.  It  has  seemed  im- 
portant to  the  officers  of  the  Academy  that  these  purposes  should 
be  presented  by  the  men  who  have  taken  not  only  a  leading  part  in 
the  revolutionary  movement  but  who  are  now  actively  engaged  in 
an  endeavor  to  work  out  these  purposes  in  concrete  and  practical 
form. 


liii] 


THE  MEXICAN  REVOLUTION— ITS  CAUSES,  PURPOSES 

AND   RESULTS 

BY  HON.  Luis  CABRERA, 

Minister  of  Finance  of  Mexico,  and  Chairman  of  the  Mexican  Section  of  the 
American  and  Mexican  Joint  Commission. 

Whatever  I  might  say  in  token  of  gratitude,  for  the  honor 
conferred  upon  us  by  the  American  Academy  of  Political  and  Social 
Science  and  the  Pennsylvania  Arbitration  and  Peace  Society, 
would  be  little  in  view  of  the  great  importance  of  the  special  invita- 
tion extended  to  us  to  attend  this  special  session. 

We  consider  it  a  high  honor  for  our  country  more  than  for 
ourselves,  and  we  are  glad  of  the  opportunity  to  make  ourselves 
heard  before  a  scientific  and  scholarly  public,  free  from  prejudice 
and  interested  in  the  Mexican  situation.  Owing  to  their  special 
nature,  the  American  Academy  of  Political  and  Social  Science  as 
well  as  the  Pennsylvania  Arbitration  and  Peace  Society  are  institu- 
tions of  scientific  and  humanitarian  character.  They  have  at  heart 
only  the  investigation  and  the  good  of  humanity,  and  in  that  spirit 
they  study  the  Mexican  situation. 

Literature  on  Mexico  which  I  have  found  in  the  United  States 
is  of  an  entirely  superficial  character,  such  as  is  contained  in  news- 
paper reports  or  interviews.  Consequently,  it  is  tinged  with  shal- 
lowness,  based  on  rumors,  and  intended  for  telegraphic  transmission. 
In  many  cases  those  reports  have  a  political  purpose  and  then  the 
facts  are  not  only  inaccurate,  but  are  set  forth  with  the  intention 
of  moulding  public  opinion,  or  that  of  the  United  States  Govern- 
ment, or  of  some  political  party.  In  many  other  cases  the  literature 
of  Mexico  known  in  the  United  States,  is  simply  imaginative,  like 
the  novel  or  the  moving  picture  exhibition.  I  do  not  know  of  any 
book,  pamphlet  or  publication  on  the  Mexican  situation  which  has 
been  prepared  with  a  scientific  purpose. 

The  sources  of  information  have  been  either  newspaper  corre- 
spondents who  discard  99  per  cent  of  the  important  facts  because 
they  cannot  extract  from  them  a  sensational  headline  for  their 
papers,  or  foreigners  who  have  interests  in  Mexico,  and  who  look 
at  the  situation  merely  from  the  viewpoint  of  their  own  businesses. 

[11 


2  The  Annals  of  the  American  Academy 

Other  founts  of  information  are  either  Mexicans  who  reside  abroad 
and  whose  views  are  affected  by  partisan  bias,-  or  politicians  repre- 
senting some  special  faction  or  chieftain.  All  such  sources  must 
necessarily  be  unreliable.  Not  one  of  them  springs  from  the  purpose 
of  ascertaining  the  true  conditions  of  Mexico,  and  the  public  who 
reads  them  desires  to  find  therein  the  corroboration  of  its  own 
opinions  rather  than  precise  data. 

The  mission  which  has  brought  us  to  the  United  States  being 
of  a  diplomatic  nature,  prevents  us  from  speaking  with  absolute 
liberty,  and  our  connection  with  the  Constitutionalist  Government 
might  cause  our  opinions  to  be  viewed  as  decidedly  partial.  As 
regards  myself,  without  losing  sight  of  the  fact  that  I  belong  to  the 
Government  of  Mr.  Carranza  and  am  taking  part  in  a  diplomatic 
mission,  I  would  like  to  say  some  words  on  the  Mexican  situation, 
appraising  it  from  a  purely  scientific  viewpoint. 

Therefore  I  shall  not  speak  either  as  an  officiaror  as  a  politician 
or  as  a  diplomat,  but  only  as  a  member  of  the  American  Academy  of 
Political  and  Social  Science  who  desires  to  present  the  general 
features  of  a  scientific  interpretation  of  the  facts  which  have  been 
agitating  Mexico  during  the  past  six  years. 

THE  CHAOS 

The  general  impression  regarding  the  Mexican  situation,  not 
only  abroad  but  in  Mexico,  is  that  it  is  but  chaos.  The  causes  put 
forth  by  each  Government,  each  chief,  each  conspirator,  each  poli- 
tician or  each  writer,  as  the  motives  of  the  Mexican  Revolution, 
are  so  numerous  and  conflicting  that  it  is  almost  impossible  to  under- 
stand them.  Some  are  general,  others  concrete,  others  immediate, 
and  still  others  remote  in  their  influence. 

The  simplest  conclusion  which  indolent  intelligence  or  impa- 
tient characters  have  extracted  from  this  galaxy  of  motives,  is  that 
the  Mexican  people  have  an  incorrigible  tendency  towards  disorder 
and  war,  and  Mexico  is  consequently  the  "sick  man,"  whose  cure  is 
hopeless.  The  number  of  presidents  that  Mexico  has  had  in  a  cen- 
tury, is  nearly  as  large  as  the  numbers  of  leaders,  generals  or  chief- 
tain who  in  the  past  six  years  have  assumed  the  title  of  legitimate 
governments  of  Mexico.  All  possible  forms  of  administration  have 
tried  to  rule  Mexico,  ranking  from  brutally  military  governments, 
without  organization  of  any  kind,  such  as  those  of  Zapata  or  Villa, 


The  Mexican  Revolution  3 

Up  to  a  Government  of  Democratic  appearance,  but  headless,  as 
that  proceeding  from  the  Aguascalientes  Convention. 

Foreign  countries  know  of  Mexico  only  what  they  see  in  the 
press  headlines,  and  those  teh1  merely  of  bloody  deeds,  battles, 
assaults,  the  blowing  up  of  trains,  massacres,  shootings,  imprison- 
ments, exiles,  etc.  Judging  from  this  kind  of  information,  the 
situation  in  Mexico  is  a  complete  chaos.  Neither  the  American 
people,  nor  the  men  who  might  be  supposed  to  appraise  the  situa- 
tion, can  do  so  for  lack  of  general  lines  of  interpretation  of  those 
facts. 

The  student  or  the  scientist  who  would  like  to  understand  and 
follow  step  by  step  the  phenomena  produced  in  the  chemist's  glass, 
or  in  the  receptacle  of  bacteriological  cultures,  or  in  the  crucible  of 
the  metallurgist;  or  the  botanist  who  would  like  to  follow  minutely 
the  development  of  the  seed  or  of  the  grass,  would  find  himself 
guideless  to  do  so.  Neither  chemical,  biological,  nor  sociological 
phenomena  can  be  studied  through  direct  observation  of  the  ele- 
ments at  the  time  in  which  processes  of  transformation  are  taking 
place.  It  becomes  necessary  to  know  the  nature  of  those  elements, 
to  observe  the  previous  condition  of  them,  and  subsequently  the 
phenomena  materialized  therewith. 

To  understand  sociological  phenomena,  we  need  above  all  a 
general  interpretation  of  a  whole  series  of  facts  and  of  the  evolving 
process;  not  a  concrete  explanation  of  each  one  of  the  facts  as  they 
take  place.  I  shall  endeavor  to  make  such  a  scientific  interpreta- 
tion of  the  Mexican  situation. 

GEOGRAPHICAL  DATA 

Geographically,  Mexico  is  a  high  triangular  plateau,  having 
its  vertex  towards  the  south  and  its  base  towards  the  north,  com- 
prised between  two  mountain  chains,  of  which  one  runs  parallel  to 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico  and  the  other  to  the  Pacific  Ocean.  This  high 
plateau  is  dry  and  bare  in  its  northern  part,  and  has  been  chiefly 
devoted  to  cattle  raising.  In  the  southern  part  it  is  less  dry  and 
more  fertile,  and  this  southern  portion,  properly  called  the  central 
plateau,  is  the  cereal  region. 

The  Gulf  slope,  damp  and  hot,  is  rich  for  tropical  agriculture 
and  gifted  with  extensive  oil  fields.  The  Pacific  slope,  dry  and  hot, 
but  well  irrigated  by  our  mountains,  will  become  an  important 


4  The  Annals  of  the  American  Academy 

agricultural  region.  Yucatan,  a  stony  desert,  which  has  been  able 
to  produce  only  hemp,  is  out  of  the  main  body  of  Mexico,  like  Lower 
California.  The  mountain  chains  running  parallel  to  the  Gulf  and 
to  the  Pacific,  and  which  interlock  in  order  to  form  the  high  Central 
Plateau,  are  not  merely  spurs,  but  comprise  vast  regions,  constitute 
the  extensive  mountain  portion  of  Mexico,  and  are  the  mining 
region. 

For  a  long  time  Mexico  was  considered  to  be  a  country  of 
marvelous  wealth.  Afterwards  it  was  believed  that  Mexico,  on  the 
contrary,  was  a  very  poor  country.  The  truth  is  that  Mexico 
possesses  great  wealth,  unexploited,  and  needing  large  investments 
of  capital  and  exceeding  energy  and  skill  to  develop  it. 

POPULATION 

From  the  point  of  view  of  population,  Mexico  is  as  little  known, 
as  from  the  geographical.  One  speaks  of  the  Mexican  people  and  of 
the  characteristics  of  such  people,  without  taking  into  considera- 
tion that  the  Mexican  people,  or  the  Mexican  race  is  not  a  well 
defined  group,  but  an  agglomeration  which  has  been  constantly 
changing  during  the  past  four  hundred  years,  and  is  still  in  the 
process  of  formation.  Before  the  Spanish  conquest,  hundreds  of 
indigenous  races  existed,  of  such  distinct  and  opposite  character- 
istics, that  it  would  be  difficult  to  find  another  country  in  the  world 
possessing  such  a  number  of  different  races.  It  is  for  facility's  sake 
that  we  speak  of  the  "Mexican  Indian,"  instead  of  speaking  of  the 
hundred  of  indigenous  races  of  Mexico. 

After  the  Spanish  conquest  the  indigenous  population  became 
enslaved.  Later,  through  the  efforts  of  the  Spanish  friars  to  protect 
the  aboriginal  races  of  Mexico,  the  Indians  ceased  being  slaves, 
only  to  fall  into  a  condition  of  legal  incapacity.  Subsequent  to  the 
Conquest  a  mixed  or  mestizos  population  began  to  appear,  and  it  is 
still  continuing  and  modifying  its  development  day  by  day.  In 
Mexico  there  is  thus  not  a  mixed  population,  properly  speaking, 
with  characteristics  different  from  those  of  the  Indian,  or  different 
from  those  of  the  white.  We  have  "a  varying  mixed  population, 
which  in  certain  strata  are  very  near  to  the  Indian,  and  in  others 
cannot  be  distinguished  from  the  white.  For  the  rest,  the  ease- 
with  which  whites  mix  with  mestizos,  and  the  latter  with  Indians, 
produces  the  fact  that  in  Mexico  the  race  question  properly  speaking 


The  Mexican  Revolution  5 

does  not  exist.  There  is  merely  a  question  of  education,  for  as  soon 
as  the  Indian  has  been  educated,  he  actually  takes  his  rank  by  the 
side  of  the  mestizo. 

The  population  problem  consists  in  unifying  the  mixed  race  by 
means  of  education  and  intercrossing  with  the  Indian  race  and  in 
striving  to  secure  the  constant  dissolving  of  the  immigrant  white 
races  into  the  mixed  race.  This  problem  does  not  present  diffi- 
culties as  regards  the  intercrossing  of  the  Indian  race  with  the  mixed 
race,  but  it  is  very  serious  as  regards  dissolving  the  white  immi- 
grants. The  white  immigration  of  Mexico  as  regards  numbers,  can 
be  classified  in  the  following  order:  Spanish,  North  American, 
French,  Italian,  English  and  German. 

Of  the  white  immigrants  to  Mexico  the  Spaniard  nearly  always 
blends  with  the  native,  so  that  after  a  generation  it  may  be  said 
that  all  the  Spaniards  become  Mexicans.  We  may  say  the  same 
thing  of  the  Italian  and  immigrants  of  Semitic  origin:  the  Arabians, 
Armenians,  etc.  After  the  Spaniard  and  the  Italian,  the  German 
assimilates  best,  and  becomes  Mexican  in  two  generations.  The 
German  frequently  marries  a  Mexican  woman  and  settles  per- 
manently in  the  country.  The  French  come  after  the  German,  as 
regarding  facility  of  blending. 

The  American  immigrant  very  seldom  becomes  Mexican.  The 
very  small  percentage  of  American  immigrants  who  settle  perma- 
nently in  Mexico  or  who  marry  Mexican  women,  preserve  American 
citizenship,  educate  their  children  abroad,  and  it  may  be  said  that 
95  per  cent  of  American  immigrants  remain  always  American, 
socially,  politically,  and  ethnically.  The  English  immigrant  rarely 
becomes  Mexican.  Hardly  ever  does  he  marry  a  Mexican  woman 
and  his  children  are  always  educated  abroad. 

These  brief  explanations  respecting  the  tendencies  to  assimilate 
the  white  population,  reveal  also  many  political  and  economic 
questions  which  exist  in  Mexico  regarding  the  situation  of  foreigners. 

EDUCATION 

The  lack  of  education  of  the  indigenous  population,  is  the  only 
obstacle  to  the  dissolution  of  the  Indian  population  into  the  mixed 
one.  Mexico  has  a  problem  of  education.  It  will  suffice  to  say  that 
there  are  80  per  cent  of  illiterates  in  our  country.  Education  in 
Mexico  has  had  many  obstacles.  The  principal  ones  have  been  the 


6  The  Annals  of  the  American  Academy 

landlord  system,  which  has  created  the  peon  class,  who  are  really 
serfs,  and  the  action  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  during  the 
nineteenth  century,  which  has  assisted  landlordism  to  preserve  in 
ignorance  the  indigenous  masses. 

The  activities  of  the  Spanish  friars  in  the  seventeenth  and 
eighteenth  centuries,  and  in  general  of  the  Catholic  clergy  during 
those  centuries,  may  be  said  to  have  been  constantly  beneficial  to 
the  indigenous  race.  However,  when  the  clergy  acquired  vast 
wealth  and  the  Church  became  the  great  landowner,  then  the 
beneficial  work  of  the  Catholic  Church  for  the  education  of  the 
indigenous  races  of  Mexico  and  the  Mexican  rural  population  in 
general,  ceased  to  exist  and  there  began  a  counter  movement.  The 
tendency  of  the  Church  then  was  directed  to  maintaining  the  rural 
population  in  ignorance. 

The  previous  governments,  either  were  not  aware  of  the  prob- 
lem or  did  not  wish  to  educate  the  Indian  and  the  proletariat.  The 
best  proof  of  the  failure  of  the  Catholic  Church  as  educator  of  the 
Indians  is  that  after  the  Church  has  had  four  hundred  years  of 
absolute  dominion  in  educational  matters,  we  still  have  in  Mexico 
80  per  cent  of  illiterates. 

The  tendency  of  the  revolutionary  government  is,  not  only  to 
remove  the  obstacles  that  the  Mexican  Government  might  have, 
but  to  devote  a  considerable  portion  of  its  efforts  and  of  the  public 
funds  to  the  education  of  the  masses  of  the  people. 

RELIGIOUS  PROBLEM 

Mexico  has  no  religious  problem  properly  speaking.  The 
Spanish  system  of  patronage  extended  to  the  Catholic  Church  by 
the  Spanish  kings  gave  a  mighty  temporal  power  to  the  clergy, 
which  lasted  up  to  1860.  In  that  year  owing  to  the  War  of  Reform 
the  Church  was  dispossessed  of  its  property,  incapacitated  from 
acquiring  real  estate,  and  deprived  of  temporal  power. 

During  the  long  government  of  General  Diaz  the  Catholic 
clergy  creeping  on  from  point  to  point  in  concealed  form,  recovered 
much  of  its  temporal  power  and  rebuilt  part  of  its  fortune.  At 
present  some  members  of  the  Catholic  clergy  have  a  tendency  to 
recover  the  temporal  power  which  the  Church  had  enjoyed  previous 
to  1860.  The  tendency  of  the  revolutionary  government  is  to  render 
effective  the  absolute  separation  of  Church  from  State,  and  to 


The  Mexican  Revolution  7 

prevent  the  Mexican  clergy  from  recovering  its  temporal  power, 
leaving  it,  however,  in  the  most  absolute  liberty  as  regards  religious 
matters. 

AGRARIAN  PROBLEM 

The  agrarian  problem  of  Mexico  is  due  to  the  geographical  and 
ethnical  conditions  of  the  country.  The  Spanish  colonial  system  of 
huge  land  grants,  the  constant  absorption  of  real  estate  by  the 
clergy  during  the  eighteenth  century  and  the  first  half  of  the  nine- 
teenth century,  with  the  system  of  concession  of  Government  lands 
adopted  during  the  second  half  of  the  nineteenth  century,  created 
and  continued  a  state  of  landlordism  which  has  been  the  chief 
cause  of  disquiet  in  Mexico  during  the  nineteenth  century. 

As  a  consequence  of  this  landlordism  there  has  been  produced 
a  constant  condition  of  serfdom  among  the  rural  classes  of  Mexico, 
a  condition  known  as  peonage.  The  solution  of  the  agrarian  problem 
of  Mexico  consists  in  the  destruction  of  landlordism  to  facilitate  the 
formation  of  small  farms,  and  also  in  the  granting  of  "commons" 
to  the  villages.  It  includes  the  division  or  parcelling  of  large 
estates,  and  a  system  of  taxes  upon  rural  property  to  prevent  the 
reconstruction  of  large  estates.  Up  to  date  it  may  be  said  that 
large  rural  estates  have  almost  never  paid  taxes. 

NATURAL  RESOURCES 

The  lack  of  Mexican  capital  has  been  the  reason  that  mining 
and  other  Mexican  industries  have  not  been  developed  save  through 
foreign  capital.  The  Spanish  Government  believed  that  the  eco- 
nomic development  of  Mexico  should  be  based  on  land  monopoly, 
and  also  on  commercial  privileges  granted  to  Spaniards  born  in  the 
mother  country.  In  the  exploitation  of  the  natural  wealth  of 
Mexico,  the  system  followed  by  the  past  administrations,  and 
especially  by  that  of  General  Diaz,  was  that  of  granting  concessions 
so  intrenched  in  privilege  that  further  competition  became  impossi- 
ble. This  system  of  privileges  and  monopoly  comprised  not  only 
the  mining,  petroleum  and  water  power  industries,  but  all  kinds  of 
industries  and  manufactures,  commerce  and  banking.  It  may  be 
said  that,  in  general,  the  economic  development  of  Mexico  during 
the  administration  of  General  Diaz,  was  the  growth  of  big  business 
based  on  privilege. 


8  The  Annals  of  the  American  Academy 

The  endeavor  of  the  Revolutionary  Government  of  Mexico  is 
to  obtain  an  economic  development  based  on  unshackled  competi- 
tion, and  of  such  a  nature  that  the  development  of  existing  business 
may  not  prevent  future  commerce  and  industry.  From  this  point 
of  view,  foreign  capital  invested  in  Mexico  upon  the  system  of 
privilege  considers  itself  attacked  by  the  present  revolution.  How- 
ever, if  we  understand  the  general  tendency  of  the  Mexican  Revolu- 
tion, we  find  that  it  opens  a  field  of  action  for  the  investment  of 
foreign  capital  much  wider  than  that  existing  heretofore. 

COMMERCIAL  PROBLEM 

The  lack  of  fluvial  navigation  and  the  great  height  of  the  Cen- 
tral Plateau  above  the  sea  level,  together  with  the  uneven  topog- 
raphy, have  compelled  Mexico  to  rely  upon  a  scant  system  of 
railways.  Because  of  this-  Mexico's  commerce  has  been  established 
on  false  bases.  It  has  been  simply  importation  and  exportation  with 
foreign  countries,  without  developing  domestic  interchange  of  prod- 
ucts. Commerce  itself  has  been  to  a  great  extent  the  only  fount  of 
fiscal  revenue,  principally  the  commerce  of  importation.  For  a  long 
time  exports  even  of  raw  materials  have  been  free  from  duty.  The 
policy  of  the  revolutionary  government  is  to  control  the  railways, 
these  being  the  only  ways  of  communication  that  the  country  has. 
It  purposes  also  to  develop  other  ways  by  utilizing  the  forces  which 
lie  latent  in  Mexico,  i.e.,  oil  and  water  power. 

INDUSTRIAL  PROBLEM 

The  industrial  development  of  Mexico  has  occurred  during  the 
last  twenty  years.  Its  basis  has  been  artificial.  It  has  consisted  of 
an  excessive  protection  to  infant  industries,  rendering  them  uncer- 
tain and  precarious  because  of  their  lack  of  mercantile  bases, 
and  (jit  has  prevented^the  establishment  of  competing  industries. 
The  tendency  of  thej^revolutionary  government  is  to  place  the 
industrial  development  of  the  country  upon  a  business  basis,  leav- 
ing aside  the  system  of  protection,  concession,  privileges  and  monop- 
oly, until  now  the  bases  of  that  little  development  have  been  effected. 

POLITICAL  PROBLEM 

The  diversity  in  types  of  civilization  as  shown  by  the  Indian, 
the  mestizo  and  the  white,  furnishes  to  Mexico  a  serious  social  and 


The  Mexican  Revolution  9 

political  problem  which  may  be  set  forth  by  saying  that  it  is  neces- 
sary to  find  a  formula  of  Government  which  may  serve  at  the  same 
time  for  a  type  of  mediaeval  civilization,  as  is  the  mestizo,  and  for 
a  type  of  modern  civilization,  as  is  the  foreign  immigrant  or  the 
educated  Creole.  If  this  be  not  possible,  it  would  be  necessary  to 
find  various  governmental  formulae  and  various  regimes  for  each 
one  of  the  elements  forming  Mexico's  population. 

Up  to  the  time  of  General  Diaz  the  political  laws  of  Mexico 
have  been  based  on  advanced  theories,  but  these  have  never  been 
rendered  effective.  This  produced  inequality  both  juridic  and 
economic.  The  political  problem  of  Mexico  consists  in  rendering 
effective  the  political  and  civil  law.  In  order  to  do  this  it  is  necessary 
above  all  to  find  the  proper  legal  and  political  formulae,  so  that 
after  those  laws  have  been  promulgated,  it  may  be  possible  to 
apply  them  efficaciously,  securing  thus  equality  of  rights  among  all 
men. 

INTERNATIONAL  PROBLEMS 

The  international  problems  of  Mexico  deserve  special  atten- 
tion, the  main  one  being  found  in  her  relations  with  the  United 
States. 

After  the  war  of  1847  which  cost  Mexico  half  of  her  territory, 
Mexicans  were  not  able  to  regain  confidence  in  regard  to  the  impe- 
rialistic tendency  that  the  Latin  American  countries  attribute  to 
the  United  States.  During  the  Mexican  revolution,  after  the  occu- 
pation of  Vera  Cruz  and  the  Columbus  expedition,  the  fears  of 
Mexicans  of  a  conflict  with  the  United  States  have  increased  con- 
siderably, chiefly  since  it  is  known  that  one  of  the  political  parties 
of  the  United  States  frankly  advocates  intervention.  The  repeated 
and  public  statements  against  intervention  made  by  the  Democratic 
Government  of  the  United  States,  have  not  been  sufficient  to  allay 
the  fears  of  Mexicans. 

As  a  neighbor  of  the  United  States,  Mexico  will  also  have  as  an 
international  problem  the  danger  of  a  conflict  between  the  United 
States  and  some  other  European  or  Asiatic  power.  The  foes  of  the 
United  States,  who  are  always  foes  of  the  whole  American  con- 
tinent, will  certainly  assume  to  be  friends  of  Mexico,  and  will  try 
to  take  advantage  of  any  sort  of  resentment,  feeling  or  distrust 
that  Mexico  may  have  against  the  United  States.  Mexico,  never- 
theless, understands  that  in  case  of  a  conflict  between  the  United 


10  The  Annals  of  the  American  Academy 

States  and  any  other  nation  outside  of  America,  her  attitude  must 
be  one  of  complete  continental  solidarity.  On  this  point  the  revolu- 
tionary government  has  followed  a  policy  of  frankness  and  con- 
sistency in  her  relations  with  the  United  States,  putting  always  her 
deeds  in  accordance  with  her  words,  and  sincerely  trying  to  reach 
an  understanding  with  the  people  and  the  Government  of  the 
United  States. 

Within  Mexico,  the  real  international  problem  is  that  of  pro- 
tecting foreign  life  and  property  and  of  establishing  proper  relations 
between  foreigners  and  natives.  On  account  of  the  non-enforcement 
of  the  political  and  civil  laws  in  favor  of  Mexicans,  and  on  account 
of  the  always  watchful  diplomatic  protection  that  foreigners  have 
enjoyed,  a  sort  of  privileged  condition  has  arisen  little  by  little  in 
favor  of  foreigners.  Mexico  has  the  problem  of  equalizing  the 
condition  of  Mexicans  and  foreigners,  not  by  lowering  the  status  of 
the  foreigners,  but  by  raising  the  condition  of  natives. 

The  privileged  condition  of  foreigners  that  has  existed  in  Mexico 
for  a  long  time,  has1  produced  a  certain  jealousy,  and  distrust  with 
which  Mexicans  look  upon  the  increase  of  immigration  and  foreign 
investments  in  Mexico,  since  such  increases  would  be  considered 
as  the  strengthening  of  a  privileged  class. 

The  problem  for  Mexico  is  to  find  the  way  in  which  foreign 
money  and  immigrants  can  freely  come  to  Mexico  and  contribute 
to  her  progress  without  becoming  a  privileged  class.  Instead  of 
becoming  a  growing  menace  to  the  sovereignty  of  Mexico,  they 
should  contribute  to  the  consolidation  of  her  sovereignty  and  her 
independence  as  a  nation. 

All  the  problems  heretofore  stated  have  been  always  complex 
and  greatly  misunderstood.  The  old  regime  had  created  such 
interests  as  have  just  been  described  and  those  interests  were  so 
strongly  bound  up  with  the  Government,  that  during  the  last  years 
of  the  government  of  General  Diaz  it  was  quite  clear  that  no  peace- 
ful solution  was  attainable.  The  transformation  of  the  whole 
system  by  congressional  action  trying  to  change  the  laws  and  the 
Government  at  large,  as  well  as  the  economic  conditions  of  the 
country,  would  have  required  probably  a  whole  century  of  effort, 
and  still  it  is  not  certain  that  such  solution  would  have  been  reached 
or  that  in  the  meantime  civil  war  would  not  have  broken  out. 

After  the  election  of  General  Diaz  in  1910,  it  was  well  under- 


The  Mexican  Revolution  11 

stood  that  the  purpose  of  his  election  was  to  perpetuate  the  same 
form  of  Government  and  the  same  system  as  had  long  been  in 
existence.  The  people  saw  that  it  was  impossible  to  transform 
anything  by  peaceful  methods.  They  had  then  to  resort  to  force 
in  order  to  destroy  a  regime  which  was  contrary  to  their  liberty, 
development  and  welfare.  The  last  six  years  of  internal  upheaval, 
though  chaotic  in  appearance,  mean  for  Mexico  the  sociological 
transformation  of  her  people. 

A  scientific  interpretation  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  is  not 
possible,  unless  facts  are  taken  as  a  whole  and  a  considerable  period 
of  time  is  analyzed.  All  of  us  know  that  in  the  every  day  reading  of 
the  newspapers  of  the  United  States,  matters  of  the  utmost  impor- 
tance are  analyzed  and  studied  and  conclusions  are  drawn  from 
incomplete  facts.  It  is  impossible  to  draw  sane  conclusions  from 
facts  thus  secured.  I  have  never  seen  a  country,  either  in  Europe 
or  in  South  America,  where  conclusions  are  drawn  or  editorials  are 
written  save  after  a  reasonable  time  has  justified  the  drawing  of 
such  conclusions.  But  in  the  United  States  the  rush  of  public 
curiosity  for  facts  is  misunderstood  as  an  eager  curiosity  for  ideas, 
and  so  this  is  the  only  country  in  the  world  where  we  can  see  that 
an  editorial  comes  the  same  morning  in  which  a  mere  rumor  on 
some  subject  is  published. 

This  way  of  studying  sociological  facts,  sounds  to  me  like  the 
attempt  of  a  physics  student  who  studies  the  swing  of  the  pendulum 
and  instead  of  waiting  until  the  whole  swing  is  complete  or  until  a 
certain  number  of  swings  have  occurred,  is  so  eager  to  draw  scientific 
conclusions  that  he  would  at  any  moment  of  the  swing  proceed  to 
calculate  the  exact  direction  in  which  the  center  of  the  earth  is 
placed.  The  conclusion  of  that  student  would  be  that  the  earth  is 
mad  and  that  its  center  is  changing  foolishly. 

It  has  been  said  that  the  Mexican  Revolution  is  not  properly 
a  revolution,  but  mere  anarchy,  that  countries  at  peace  consider 
dangerous  and  intolerable.  Nevertheless,  if  we  can  demonstrate 
with  facts  that  the  Mexican  Revolution  has  followed  exactly  the 
natural  course  of  any  other  revolution ,  and  if  it  can  be  demonstrated 
that  even  at  the  present  time  the  revolutionary  government  of 
Mexico  is  pursuing  a  well  defined  program  of  reconstruction,  one 
must  necessarily  reach  the  conclusion  that  the  Mexican  people  are 
not  acting  madly,  nor  blindly  destroying  her  wealth  and  her  men, 


12  The  Annals  of  the  American  Academy 

but  performing  a  task  of  transformation  beneficial  and  indispensa- 
ble, from  which  results  may  be  expected  that  will  be  commensurate 
with  the  sacrifices  that  are  now  being  made. 

It  will  appear  indeed  as  strange  and  bold,  and  it  will  perhaps 
shock  to  a  certain  extent,  especially  the  members  of  the  American 
Academy  of  Political  and  Social  Science  and  of  the  Pennsylvania 
Arbitration  and  Peace  Society  that  in  a  scientific  and  pacifist 
audience  like  this,  one  should  come  to  apologize  for  force  and  insur- 
rection as  a  means  of  securing  the  liberty  and  welfare  of  her  people. 
I  am  not  trying  to  impose  my  views,  but  simply  applying  sociolog- 
ical criteria  to  facts  that  have  occurred  in  Mexico. 

When  a  system  of  work  is  right,  but  we  fail  to  obtain  results 
from  our  efforts  for  lack  of  efficiency,  the  task  of  the  reformer  con- 
sists in  improving  that  system.  But  when  a  system  is  radically 
wrong,  we  must  abandon  that  system  and  find  a  better  one.  The 
gradual  and  slow  reform  of  a  system  to  make  it  suit  the  require- 
ments of  a  man,  of  a  business  enterprise,  of  an  institution  or  of  a 
country,  is  called  evolution.  The  abandonment  of  a  system  to  be 
replaced  by  another,  is  called  a  revolution.  The  use  of  force  is  not 
essential  to  a  revolution;  but  the  revolution  in  the  personal  conduct 
of  men,  in  business  or  in  communities,  implies  always  a  considerable 
effort  and  a  great  amount  of  sacrifice. 

Historically,  we  can  assert  that  with  very  few  exceptions,  the 
greatest  conquests  of  human  liberty  and  human  welfare  have  not 
been  made  without  large  sacrifices  of  men  and  property.  Sociolog- 
ically, the  revolution  is  the  rebellion  of  a  people  against  a  social 
system  that  has  been  found  wrong.  But  as  every  social  system  is 
embodied  in  certain  laws  and  in  a  certain  political  organization, 
revolution  appears  always  as  a  violation  of  existing  laws  and  as  an 
insurrection  against  the  Government.  Hence  all  revolutions  appear 
as  anarchical  attempts  to  destroy  society  and  this  is  also  why  most 
insurrections  are  called  revolutions. 

A  revolution  means  the  use  of  force  to  destroy  an  unsatisfactory 
system  and  the  employment  of  force  and  intelligence  to  build  the 
new  system.  A  revolution  has  consequently  two  stages  clearly 
defined;  the  destructive,  which  is  nearly  always  a  period  of  war  and 
rebellion  against  the  so-called  established  Government,  and  the 
stage  of  disavowal  of  most  of  the  existing  laws,  which  means  the 
use  of  force  against  the  social,  economic  and  legal  system. 


The  Mexican  Revolution  13 

When  the  old  re'gime  has  been  destroyed,  the  mere  reestablish- 
ment  of  legal  order  without  any  change,  would  be  tantamount  to 
the  simple  reconstruction  of  the  same  structure  already  destroyed. 
This  is  what  sometimes  makes  revolutions  fail.  To  avoid  this,  any 
revolution  has  a  second  stage  that  is  always  known  as  the  period 
of  revolutionary  government.  During  this  second  period,  force  is 
also  employed  in  the  form  of  a  dictatorial  government,  to  establish 
the  required  reforms,  that  is  to  say,  to  lay  the  foundations  of  the 
new  social,  economic  and  political  structure.  After  every  revolu- 
tion, a  period  of  dictatorial  interregnum  has  always  followed, 
because  revolutionary  dictatorship  means  the  use  of  force  for  recon- 
struction. 

When  the  foundations  of  reconstruction  have  been  laid  down, 
then  it  is  possible  to  return  to  a  legal  re'gime  no  longer  based  upon 
the  old  legislation  nor  upon  the  obsolete  system,  but  upon  new 
principles  that  become  the  new  legal  system,  that  is  to  say,  the 
new  re'gime.  The  French  Revolution  has  been  the  most  complete 
example  of  a  revolution,  with  its  frankly  destructive  period,  its 
anarchic  state,  its  revolutionary  government  and  its  new  re'gime 
upon  which  France  afterwards  developed  and  we  also  can  say  upon 
which  the  rest  of  Europe  has  subsequently  developed. 

The  Mexican  Revolution  was  nothing  more  than  the  insurrec- 
tion of  the  Mexican  people  against  a  very  repressive  and  wealthy 
re'gime  represented  by  the  government  of  General  Diaz,  and  against 
a  social,  political  and  economic  system  supporting  such  govern- 
ment. This  revolution  had  as  its  prodrome  the  political  insurrec- 
tion of  Madero.  But  Madero  saw  no  more  than  the  political  side 
of  the  Mexican  situation.  He  professed  that  a  change  of  Govern- 
ment was  sufficient  to  bring  about  a  change  in  the  general  condi- 
tions of  the  country.  Madero  compromised  with  the  Diaz  re'gime, 
acquiesced  in  taking  charge  of  his  Government,  and  ruled  the  coun- 
try with  the  same  laws,  the  same  procedure  and  even  with  the  same 
men  with  whom  General  Diaz  had  ruled.  The  logical  consequence 
was  that  Madero  had  to  fail  because  he  had  not  destroyed  the  old 
nor  attempted  to  build  a  new  re'gime.  The  assassination  of  Ma- 
dero and  the  dictatorship  of  Huerta  were  mere  attempts  at  reaction 
made  by  the  old  re'gime  with  its  same  men,  its  same  money  and  its 
same  procedure,  and  an  attempt  to  reestablish  exactly  the  same  old 
conditions  that  existed  during  General  Diaz*  rule. 


14  The  Annals  of  the  American  Academy 

The  Constitutionalist  Revolution  set  forth  from  the  very  begin- 
ning its  line  of  conduct.  The  Plan  of  Guadalupe  issued  by  Mr. 
Carranza  in  March,  1913,  immediately  after  the  assassination  of 
Madero,  is  the  straightest  revolutionary  proclamation  that  could  be 
imagined  to  destroy  an  old  regime.  This  plan  meant  the  absolute 
disavowal  of  the  executive,  legislative  and  judicial  powers  that  had 
existed  up  to  that  time,  and  authorized  the  use  of  force  for  the 
destruction  of  Huerta's  government,  which  was  being  supported  by 
General  Diaz'  army,  by  the  power  of  the  landowner  and  by  the 
moral  influence  of  the  Catholic  clergy. 

A  period  of  bloody  war  followed,  and  when  Huerta  was  finally 
defeated  and  the  chief  of  the  constitutionalist  revolution  reached 
the  City  of  Mexico,  it  was  believed  that  the  destructive  period  of 
the  Mexican  Revolution  was  at  an  end.  But  a  period  of  an  extremely 
chaotic  and  anarchic  character  necessarily  followed.  At  the  end  of 
1914  the  Mexican  situation  was  most  puzzling  and  bewildering,  and 
still  it  was  at  that  very  moment  and  in  the  middle  of  such  an  ex- 
treme confusion,  that  Don  Venustiano  Carranza,  as  the  chief  of 
the  Constitutionalist  Revolution,  set  forth  the  general  outlines  upon 
which  the  reconstruction  of  Mexico  was  to  be  carried  out. 

These  outlines  are  embodied  in  the  decree  of  December  12, 
1914,  which  I  will  quote  here  as  the  best  interpretation  of  the  basic 
lines  upon  which  the  new  regime  and  the  new  social  system  were  to 
be  found.  The  decree  in  substance  indicates  that  whereas  the  use 
of  force  had  been  required  to  overthrow  the  Huerta  Government  in 
view  of  the  chaotic  conditions  of  the  country,  it  was  necessary  to 
use  the  same  force  to  continue  the  struggle  until  peace  should  be 
attained,  and  to  reconstruct  the  new  regime. 

The  main  provisions  of  said  decree  read  as  follows: 

ARTICLE  1.  The  Plan  of  Guadalupe  of  the  26th  of  March  1913  shall  remain 
in  force  until  the  complete  triumph  of  the  Revolution.  Consequently  Citizen 
Venustiano  Carranza  will  continue  as  First  Chief  of  the  Constitutionalist  Revolu- 
tion and  in  Charge  of  the  Executive  Power  of  the  Nation,  until  such  tune  as  the 
enemy  is  vanquished  and  peace  is  restored. 

ART.  2.  The  First  Chief  of  the  Revolution,  in  Charge  of  the  Executive 
Power,  will  issue  and  put  in  force  during  the  struggle  all  such  laws,  regulations 
and  measures  that  may  satisfy  the  economic,  social  and  political  requirements  of 
the  country,  carrying  out  such  reforms  as  public  opinion  may  require  to  estab- 
lish a  re'gime  to  guarantee  the  equality  among  all  Mexicans,  to  wit:  Agrarian 
laws  that  may  facilitate  the  creation  of  small  property,  parcelling  the  large 
estates  and  restoring  to  the  villages  the  commons  of  which  they  were  unjustly 


The  Mexican  Revolution  15 

dispossessed;  fiscal  laws  tending  to  reach  an  equitable  system  of  taxation  upon 
real  estate;  legislation  to  better  the  condition  of  rural  laborers,  working  men, 
miners  and  in  general  of  all  the  proletariat;  establishment  of  municipal  liberty  as 
a  constitutional  institution;  basis  for  a  new  system  of  organization  of  the  army; 
reform  of  the'electoral  system  to  obtain  actual  suffrage;  organization  of  an  inde- 
pendent judicial  power  both  in  the  Federation  and  the  States;  revision  of  laws 
relating  to  marriage  and  civil  status  of  persons;  regulations  that  will  guarantee 
the  strict  enforcement  of  the  Reform  laws;  revision  of  the  civil,  criminal  and 
commercial  codes;  reformation  of  judicial  proceedings  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining 
a  rapid  and  efficient  administration  of  justice;  revision  of  laws  relative  to  the 
exploitation  of  mines,  oil,  waters,  forests  and  other  natural  resources  of  the  coun- 
try, in  order  to  destroy  monopolies  created  by  the  old  regime  and  to  avoid  the 
formation  of  new  monopolies  in  the  future;  political  reforms  that  may  guarantee 
the  real  enforcement  of  the  Constitution  of  the  Republic,  and  in  general  of  such 
other  laws  as  may  be  considered  necessary  to  ensure  to  the  inhabitants  of  the 
country  the  real  and  full  enjoyment  of  their  rights  and  equality  before  the  law. 

ART.  4.  At  the  triumph  of  the  Revolution,  when  the  Supreme  Power  be 
reinstated  in  the  City  of  Mexico  and  after  municipal  elections  take  place  in  most 
of  the  States  of  the  Republic,  the  First  Chief  of  the  Revolution,  in  Charge  of  the 
Executive  Power,  will  call  elections  for  the  Federal  Congress  fixing  the  proclama- 
tion, the  dates  and  conditions  in  which  said  elections  must  take  place. 

ART.  5.  When  the  national  Congress  assembles,  the  First  Chief  of  the 
Revolution  will  report  to  it  concerning  his  stewardship  of  the  power  vested  upon 
him  by  this  decree,  and  he  will  especially  submit  the  reforms  issued  and  put  in 
force  during  the  struggle,  so  that  Congress  may  ratify,  amend  or  supplement 
them,  and  raise  to  the  rank  of  constitutional  provisions  such  laws  as  may  have 
to  take  that  character;  all  before  the  establishment  of  constitutional  order. 

The  reading  of  this  decree  is  of  the  utmost  importance  to  all  who 
seem  to  be  confused  by  events  developing  in  Mexico  since  the  over- 
throw of  Huerta,  and  to  those  who  see  in  Mexico  only  an  incom- 
prehensible condition  of  anarchy.  It  will  be  of  still  greater  impor- 
tance to  kAow  that  this  decree  has  been  the  rule  under  which  the 
construction 'of  Mexico  is  being  made  by  the  Revolutionary  Gov- 
ernment. 

Students  of  the  Revolution  of  Mexico  from  a  disinterested  and 
scientific  point  of  view,  should  keep  in  mind,  as  an  outline  for  the 
interpretation  of  the  events  of  the  last  six  years,  the  following 
points,  which  might  be  at  the  same  time  a  sort  of  index  to  the 
chapters  of  an  extended  study  of  the  Mexican  situation. 

I.  Causes  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  as  derived  from  the 
political  and  economic  development  of  the  country  up  to 
the  end  of  the  nineteenth  century. 


16  The  Annals  of  the  American  Academy 

II.  Prodromes  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  until  the  death  of 

Madero. 

III.  Destruction  of  the  political  and  military  powers  of  the  old 
regime,  until  August  1914. 

IV.  Destruction  of  the  economic  power  of  the  old  regime  during 
the  preconstitutional  period  (1915-1916). 

V.  Beginning  of  the  reconstruction. 

Such  has  been  the  development  of  the  Mexican  Revolution, 
and  such  is  the  interpretation  of  past,  present  and  future  occurrences 
in  regard  to  this  revolution.  Such  has  to  be  the  interpretation, 
regardless  of  who  are  the  men  in  the  government. 

If  Carranza  and  the  men  around  him  are  personally  over- 
powered by  the  new  anarchic  period,  and  if  they  have  to  die  or  get 
out,  that  would  not  mean  that  my  conclusions  are  wrong.  It  would 
only  mean  that  a  man  is  not  always  a  span  between  two  regimes. 
There  have  been  cases  in  which  a  revolution  has  been  completed 
during  the  life  of  a  man,  be  he  Cromwell  or  Washington.  At  other 
times  a  long  list  of  heroes  and  martyrs  is  required  to  complete  a 
transformation  of  the  people,  from  Mirabeau  to  Napoleon. 

In  Mexico  we  have  had  three  revolutions.  Our  revolution  of 
independence  in  1810  was  not  carried  out  by  a  single  man.  Hidalgo 
initiated  it  and  died  without  seeing  the  end.  Morelos  continued  it 
and  also  passed  away  before  our  country  was  free.  Guerrero  was 
the  only  one  who  saw  the  consummation  of  our  independence.  In 
1857  it  took  only  Juarez  to  see  the  beginning  and  the  end  of  the 
reform  revolution.  The  present  revolution  has  already  consumed 
Madero.  If  Carranza  does  not  see  the  end  of  this  movement,  that 
will  not  change  the  development  of  the  revolution.  It  will  only 
mean  that  Carranza  himself  and  the  men  around  him  are  no  more 
than  a  link  in  the  chain  of  men  who  will  sacrifice  their  lives  for  the 
liberty  and  the  welfare  of  the  Mexican  people. 

To  close  my  remarks  I  wish  to  reiterate  my  apologies  to  the 
audience,  and  especially  to  the  members  of  the  American  Academy 
of  Political  and  Social  Science  and  of  the  Pennsylvania  Arbitration 
and  Peace  Society,  for  the  theme  I  have  chosen  for  this  conference. 
I  sincerely  believe  that  the  people  of  this  country  need  to  study  the 
Mexican  Revolution,  not  only  for  the  sake  of  their  interest  toward 
Mexico,  nor  for  their  own  interest  alone  as  our  neighbors,  but  also 


The  Mexican  Revolution  17 

as  an  example  of  an  economic  and  social  revolution  that  is  taking 
place  in  the  twentieth  century. 

I  wish  a  great  prosperity  and  a  long  peace  to  this  country,  and 
that  the  solution  of  all  its  problems  may  be  made  by  peaceful 
methods.  Nations  nevertheless,  when  they  make  mistakes  in  their 
development,  have  to  experience  a  revolution.  If  such  a  revolution 
can  be  accomplished  without  disturbance  of  peace,  unnecessary 
evils  can  be  avoided  and  all  the  benefit  that  a  revolution  neces- 
sarily brings  about  will  be  reaped. 

Bernard  Shaw  says  that  revolution  is  a  national  institution  in 
England,  because  the  English  people,  through  democratic  proceed- 
ings, can  make  a  revolution  every  seven  years,  if  they  choose  to  do 
so.  The  Anglo  Saxon  referendum  is  no  more  than  a  right  to  peaceful 
revolution.  The  Mexican  people  do  not  enjoy  that  blessing,  and 
have  been  obliged  to  engage  in  a  bloody  and  costly  revolution  to 
attain  their  liberty  and  welfare.  There  is  an  excellent  reason. 

A  revolution  is  not  always  a  source  of  evil  and  tears,  just  as 
fire  does  not  always  produce  devastation.  Unexplored  wildernesses 
of  the  Temperate  Zone  can  be  opened  to  agriculture  by  exploiting  the 
forest  wealth  and  at  the  same  time  preparing  the  soil  for  future 
cultivation.  In  tropical  countries,  however,  the  common  way  of 
opening  fields  to  cultivation  is  to  clear  them  with  a  great  fire  that 
consumes  indeed  much  natural  wealth,  but  which  at  the  same  time 
devours  rapidly  the  jungle  and  by  purifying  and  fertilizing  the  soil, 
saves  a  large  amount  of  work. 


BY  HON.  YGNACIO  BONILLAS, 

Minister  of  Communications  and  Public  Works  of  Mexico,  and  Member  of  the 
American  and  Mexican  Joint  Commission. 

From  its  very  inception,  the  spirit  of  reconstruction  along  lines 
of  social,  economic,  political  and  industrial  tendencies  has  been 
manifest  in  the  Mexican  Revolution.  It  has  crystallized  in  deeds 
which  have  produced  a  deep  impression  upon  the  minds  not  only  of 
those  who  have  taken  an  active  part  in  the  movement,  but  also 
of  those  interested  in  preserving  the  old  conditions.  The  character 
and  earnestness  of  the  principal  leaders  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 
proclaimed  to  Huerta,  the  usurper,  and  to  his  associates,  that  the 
struggle,  begun  in  the  northern  states  of  the  Republic,  was  to  be 
waged  to  a  finish,  not  only  to  avenge  a  hideous  crime,  and  to  dispel 
from  the  mind  of  the  civilized  world  the  impression  that  the  people 
of  Mexico  would  submit  tamely  to  such  a  national  affront,  but 
also  that  a  new  order  of  things  might  be  established  embodying 
improvements  in  all  departments  of  the  national  life.  It  was 
annoying  to  Huerta  and  his  followers  that  men  from  the  north, 
whose  records  in  private  and  public  life  were  clean,  and  that  men 
emerging  from  partial  or  complete  obscurity,  should  sever  their  con- 
nections with  homes  and  business;  that  they  should  give  themselves 
up  with  all  their  resources  to  the  vindication  of  the  national  honor 
and  to  the  creation  of  new  institutions  and  a  government  by  the 
people  and  for  the  people. 

Because  of  this  attitude  of  the  Huerta  government,  the  revolu- 
tionists— whether  engaged  in  military  or  civil  pursuits — were 
often  approached  by  the  partisans  of  the  illegal  government,  with 
tempting  offers  to  discontinue  their  participation  in  the  revolution 
and  to  accept  high  positions  in  civil,  diplomatic,  or  active  military 
service.  The  invariable  reply  was  a  flat  refusal  accompanied  by 
patriotic  declarations  of  unswerving  fidelity  to  the  high  ideals  pro- 
claimed by  the  revolution.  Such  an  attitude  from  resolute  men, 
in  the  very  capital  and  from  all  quarters  of  the  Republic,  could 

118] 


Character  and  Progress  of  the  Revolution  19 

only  forebode  ill  to  the  usurper  and  to  the  privileged  classes  who 
supported  him.  The  downfall  of  the  government  which  had  been 
born  of  treason  and  murder  was  accomplished  by  the  victorious 
army  headed  by  its  first  chief  Venustiano  Carranza.  As  Constitu- 
tional Governor  of  the  State  of  Coahuila  at  the  time  of  the  coup 
d'e"tat,  he  had  never  hesitated  a  moment  to  disavow  the  military- 
government  of  Huerta.  He  did  it  also  in  spite  of  the  appalling  odds 
against  him  and  the  small  group  of  patriots  who  took  up  arms  with 
him.  They  firmly  resolved  to  blot  out  the  shame  cast  upon  the 
national  honor  and  to  restore  to  the  country  the  constitutional 
government  which  had  perished  with  the  tragical  demise  of  its 
lawful  representatives — Madero  and  Pino  Suarez.  It  took  seven- 
teen months — from  March,  1913  to  August  of  the  following  year— 
to  accomplish  this.  The  enemy  was  vanquished  in  numerous 
encounters  and  the  City  of  Mexico,  the  capital  of  the  Republic, 
was  finally  occupied. 

It  is  needless  to  mention  the  terrible  sacrifices  incurred  in  at- 
taining the  triumph.  Historical  precedents  show  distinctly  that  no 
important  achievements  in  the  life  of  a  nation  are  accomplished 
without  sacrifices,  and  we  hold  that,  in  the  vindication  of  our 
national  honor,  no  sacrifice  could  be  too  great. 

It  may  be  supposed  by  those  who  are  unacquainted  with  Mexi- 
can political,  social  and  economic  conditions,  that  the  original  pur- 
pose of  the  revolution,  having  been  accomplished  by  violent  and 
destructive  means,  further  conquest  and  the  attainment  of  the 
national  wellfare,  might  be  left  to  the  slow  processes  of  evolution. 
To  the  leaders  of  the  revolution,  however,  and  to  all  other  sound 
thinking  people  in  Mexico,  the  opportune  moment  had  arrived  for 
carrying  out  political,  social  and  economic  reforms,  deemed  indis- 
pensable for  the  reestablishment  of  a  government  founded  upon 
principles  of  right  and  justice  to  all. 

Furthermore,  the  triumph  of  the  revolution  was  a  triumph  of 
the  people,  of  the  down-trodden  and  oppressed,  over  a  corrupt 
aristocracy  and  more  corrupt  clergy.  Since  Colonial  times  and 
almost  without  interruption  these  privileged  classes  have  held  the 
reins  of  government  and  complete  despotic  sway  over  the  country 
and  its  destinies.  They  have  governed  it  for  their  own  selfish 
aggrandizement  and  to  the  detriment,  in  all  respects,  of  the  other 
classes  who  constitute  the  great  majority  of  the  people.  The  sue- 


20  The  Annals  of  the  American  Academy 

cess  of  the  revolution  had  been  comparatively  easy  and  the  resources 
of  the  privileged  classes  at  home  and  abroad,  remained  practically 
intact.  Large  numbers  of  officers,  civil  and  military,  of  the  old 
regime,  who  had  been  generously  amnestied,  remained  within  the 
confines  of  the  country  and  many  more  such  were  enjoying  the 
spoils  of  their  rapacity  in  foreign  lands. 

It  could  hardly  be  expected  that  such  elements,  so  thoroughly 
accustomed  to  rule  the  country  in  an  absolute  manner,  would  as- 
sume a  mild  attitude  without  a  further  struggle.  While  the  armies 
of  the  old  regime  were  being  vanquished,  they  practiced  their  old 
tactics  of  creating  dissension  among  the  victors.  The  insubordina- 
tion of  the  Division  of  the  North  and  the  unpatriotic  action  of  the 
Aguascalientes  convention  was  due  to  the  efforts  of  these  reaction- 
aries to  regain  power. 

In  this  second  epoch  of  the  Constitutionalist  Revolution  the 
struggle  was  more  intense  and  the  number  of  participants  was  greater 
than  in  any  previous  war  in  the  history  of  the  country.  There  was 
a  time  during  the  armed  conflict  when  all  except  honor  seemed  to  be 
lost  for  the  cause  of  legality,  personified  by  the  First  Chief  Carranza 
and  by  the  group  of  loyal  citizens  who  derived  from  him  a  constant 
inspiration  to  perform  acts  of  chivalry  and  valor,  and  to  persist 
undismayed  until  final  success  was  attained.  Victory  was  achieved 
by  the  indomitable  army  under  the  leadership  of  General  Obregon 
upon  the  battlefields  of  Celaya,  Leon,  Trinidad,  Aguascalientes  and 
many  others  where  the  armies  of  the  reactionaries  were  completely 
and  ignominiously  defeated  and  dispersed. 

It  might  be  supposed  that  during  the  armed  conflict  in  these 
two  epochs  attention  had  been  given  to  nothing  but  the  vanquish- 
ment  of  the  enemy,  and  that  nothing  but  a  destructive  campaign 
was  the  rule.  Such  was  not  the  case.  All  departments  of  the  gov- 
ernment were  organized  and  much  reconstructive  work  was  ac- 
complished, although  under  most  adverse  circumstances.  Where- 
ever  the  Constitutionalist  arms  obtained  control  the  organization  of 
temporary  municipal  and  state  governments  followed,  and  the  work 
of  pacification,  and  the  betterment  of  conditions  for  the  ameliora- 
tion of  the  people  ensued. 

The  most  earnest  endeavors  have  been  and  are  being  made  by 
the  government  of  the  Revolution  to  restore  order  at  the  earliest 
possible  moment.  To  that  end,  municipal  elections  have  been  held 


Character  and  Progress  of  the  Revolution  21 

throughout  the  country  and  the  officials  elected  in  their  respective 
localities  took  their  oath  of  office  and  entered  upon  the  discharge 
of  their  duties  on  the  16th  of  last  September,  the  anniversary  of 
Mexican  independence. 

Another  general  election  of  great  significance  was  held  through- 
out the  country  last  month.  Delegates  were  chosen  to  a  constitu- 
tional convention  which  is  to  meet  at  Queretaro  on  the  20th  of 
this  month,  for  the  purpose  of  revising  the  federal  constitution  and  to 
pass  upon  such  decrees  of  the  First  Chieftaincy  as  are  in  the  nature 
of  Constitutional  amendments.  The  convention  will  be  in  session 
for  two  months  and  during  its  deliberations  will  set  the  time  for  the 
next  presidential  election.  This  is  an  event  to  which  the  country 
looks  forward  with  intense  interest,  as  it  hopes  that  with  the  return 
to  Constitutional  order,  Mexico  will  take  her  place  among  the  fam- 
ily of  nations  under  a  government  of  the  people,  by  the  people  and 
for  the  people. 


THE    SANITARY    AND    EDUCATIONAL    PROBLEMS    OF 

MEXICO 

BY  HON.  ALBERTO  J.  PANI, 

Director  General  of  the  Constitutionalist  Railways  of  Mexico  and  Member  of  the 
American  and  Mexican  Joint  Commission. 

During  the  most  acute  and  violent  period  of  an  armed  revolution 
— a  veritable  chaos  in  which  it  would  seem  that  the  people  after 
destroying  everything  try  to  commit  suicide  in  a  body — the  news 
of  isolated  cases,  however  horrible,  makes  but  little  impression.  As 
the  struggle  gains  form  by  the  grouping  of  men  around  the  various 
nuclei  which  represent  the  different  antagonistic  principles,  in- 
dividuals grow  in  importance  until  the  nucleus  which  best  inter- 
prets the  ambitions  and  wants  of  the  people  acquires  absolute  as- 
cendancy. Henceforward  this  group  is  unreasonably  expected  to 
fulfil  strictly  all  the  obligations  usually  incumbent  upon  a  govern- 
ment duly  constituted.  The  sensation  then  provoked  by  the  news  of 
isolated  cases  of  individual  misfortune,  because  of  their  very  rarity, 
causes  greater  consternation. 

This  is  precisely  what  is  occurring  with^the  present  Mexican 
government.  Select  any  two  dates  from  the  beginning  of  its  organ- 
ization. Compare  dispassionately  the  relative  conditions  of  na- 
tional life  on  each,  and  one  must  admit  that  the  country  is  rapidlj 
returning  to  normal  political  and  social  conditions.  It  is  also  un- 
deniable that  the  temporary  interruption  of  a  line  of  communica- 
tion, or  the  attack  on  a  train  or  village  by  rebels  or  outlaws,  now 
causes  an  exaggerated  impression.  People  forget  that  not  so  long 
ago,  the  greater  part  of  the  railway  lines,  or  even  of  the  cities  of  the 
Republic  were  in  the  hands  of  these  rebels  or  outlaws,  and  that  in 
the  very  territory  now  dominated  by  the  constitutionalist  govern- 
ment, trains  and  towns  were  but  too  frequently  assaulted. 

It  is  unreasonable  to  try  to  make  the  present  government 
responsible  for  the  transgressions  of  its  predecessors.  The  revolu- 
tion itself  is  a  natural  consequence  of  these  faults.  Former  govern- 
ments who  knew  not  how  to  prevent  the  revolution,  are  responsible 
for  the  evils  which  may  have  come  in  its  train,  and  should  the  nation 

[22] 


Sanitary  and  Educational  Problems  of  Mexico  23 

be  saved,  as  it  shall  be,  it  will  be  due  solely  to  the  citizens  who  have 
been  willing  to  sacrifice  themselves.  Only  through  such  personal 
sacrifices  as  these  is  it  possible  to  construct  a  true  fatherland. 

The  enemies  of  the  new  regime — irreconcilable  because  they 
will  not  accept  the  sacrifices  imposed — are  now  burning  their  last 
cartridges,  making  the  constitutionalist  government  responsible 
for  many  of  the  calamities  which  caused  the  revolution,  and  which 
the  government,  impelled  by  the  generous  impulse  which  generated 
it,  purposes  to  remedy.  Thus  do  we  explain  the  protests  of  the 
discontented,  and  the  monstrosity  that  these  protests  are  even 
more  energetic  and  loud  when  they  defend  money  than  when  they 
defend  life  itself. 

The  theme  of  this  night's  address  refers  to  one  of  these  calami- 
ties, a  shameful  legacy  of  the  past.  Inimical  interests  are  trying 
to  attack  the  constitutionalist  government  on  this  score,  though  it 
is  the  first  government  in  Mexico  which  has  tried  to  remedy  this 
evil.  Having  been  appointed  by  the  first  chief  in  charge  of  the  ex- 
ecutive power  of  Mexico,  Mr.  Carranza,  to  make  a  study  of  the 
problem,  I  would  have  only  to  summarize  or  to  copy,  in  order  to 
develop  such  theme,  some  fragments  of  the  resulting  report. 

One  of  the  most  imperative  obligations  that  civilization  imposes  upon  the 
State  is  to  duly  protect  human  life,  to  permit  the  growth  of  society.  It  becomes 
necessary  to  make  known  the  precepts  of  private  hygiene  and  to  put  them  in 
practice,  and  to  enforce  the  precepts  of  public  hygiene.  For  the  first,  there  is  the 
school  as  an  excellent  organ  of  propaganda.  For  the  second,  with  more  direct 
bearing  on  healthfulness,  there  are  principally  special  establishments  to  heal,  to 
disinfect,  to  take  prophylactic  measures.  Then  there  are  engineering  works, 
laws  and  regulations  to  put  in  force  by  a  technical  personnel,  or  by  an  administra- 
tive or  police  corps.  It  may  therefore  be  said  without  exaggeration,  that  there  is  a 
necessary  relation  of  direct  proportion  between  the  sum  of  civilization  acquired  by  a 
country,  and  the  degree  of  perfection  attained  by  its  sanitary  organization. 

The  activities,  in  this  respect,  of  General  Diaz'  government, 
during  the  thirty  odd  years  of  enforced  peace  and  of  apparent  ma- 
terial well-being,  were  devoted  almost  exclusively  to  works  to  gratify 
the  love  of  ostentation  or  peculation.  Seldom  were  they  devoted 
to  the  true  needs  of  the  country.  There  were  erected  magnificent 
buildings.  To  build  the  national  theatre  and  capitol,  both  un- 
finished, it  was  planned  to  spend  sixty  millions  of  pesos.  When  it 
was  a  case  of  executing  works  of  public  utility,  their  construction 
was  made  subservient  to  the  illicit  ends  pointed  out.  Thus,  for 


24  The  Annals  of  the  American  Academy 

example,  the  works  of  city  improvement,  never  finished,  not  even 
in  the  capital,  in  spite  of  the  conditions  of  notorious  unhealthfulness 
in  some  important  towns,  were  always  begun  with  elegant  and  costly 
asphalt  pavements,  which  it  became  necessary  to  destroy  and  re- 
place, whenever  a  water  or  drainage  pipe  had  to  be  laid.  The  work 
of  education  undertaken  by  the  government  was  chiefly  dedicated 
to  erecting  costly  buildings  for  schools :  it  is  only  in  this  way,  there- 
fore, that  we  can  realize  that  the  proportion  of  persons  knowing  how 
to  read  and  write  is  barely  30  per  cent  of  the  total  population  in  the 
Republic. 

The  net  result  of  what  was  done  in  these  respects  during  the 
long  administration  of  General  Diaz  could  not  be  more  disastrous. 
If  we  take  the  average  mortality  for  the  nine  years  from  1904  to 
1912,  the  heyday  of  that  administration,  we  find  that  in  Mexico 
City,  where  the  greatest  sum  of  culture  and  material  progress  is  to 
to  be  found,  there  is  a  rate  of  mortality  of  42.3  deaths  for  each  one 
thousand  inhabitants.  That  is  to  say: 

I.  It  is  nearly  three  times  that  prevailing  in  American  cities  of 
similar  density  (16.1}; 

II.  Nearly  two  and  one-half  times  larger  than  the  average  co- 
efficient of  mortality  of  comparable  European  cities  (17.53}  and 

III.  Greater  than  the  coefficient  of  mortality  of  the  Asiatic  and 
African  cities  of  Madras  and  Cairo  (39.51  and  40.15  respectively) 
in  spite  of  the  fact  that  in  the  former,  cholera  morbus  is  endemic. 

During  the  same  period  the  annual  average  of  deaths  in  the 
City  of  Mexico  was  more  than  11,500.  These  deaths  were  due  to 
diseases  that  are  avoidable  if  proper  care  of  private  and  public 
health  be  observed  and  constitute  an  arraignment  against  the  admin- 
istration of  General  Diaz.  As  the  deaths  occasioned  by  the  Revo- 
lution during  the  six  years  surely  do  not  reach  70,000,  we  find  that 
the  government  of  General  Diaz — so  greatly  eulogized — in  the  midst 
of  peace  and  prosperity,  did  not  kill  fewer  people  than  a  formidable 
Revolution  which  set  afire  the  whole  Republic,  and  horrified  the 
entire  world. 

But  the  truth  is  that  General  Diaz'  government  did  not  recog- 
nize the  formula  of  integral  progress-1- -the  only  one  which  truly 
ennobles  humanity — but  wasted  its  energies  in  showy  manifesta- 
tions of  a  progress  purely  material  and  fictitious,  with  the  inevitable 
train  of  vice  and  corruption.  The  ostentatious  pageant — the  most 


Sanitary  and  Educational  Problems  of  Mexico  25 

shameless  lie  with  which  it  has  ever  been  attempted  to  deceive  the 
world — which  celebrated  the  anniversary  of  national  independence, 
took  place  only  a  few  weeks  prior  to  the  popular  revolution  of  1910, 
before  whose  onrush  the  government  fell  like  a  house  of  cards. 

Let  us  now  turn  to  the  constitutionalist  government.  On  its 
banner  it  has  written  its  resolve  to  better  the  condition  of  the  life  of 
the  people,  socially  and  individually,  and  its  sincerity  and  energy 
may  be  seen  not  only  in  its  words  but  in  its  deeds. 

The  constitutionalist  government  remained  at  Vera  Cruz  at  the 
close  of  1914  and  at  the  beginning  and  middle  of  1915,  while  its 
army  reconquered  the  territory  of  the  Republic,  which  had  been  al- 
most wholly  in  the  hands  of  the  enemy.  In  spite  of  being  engaged 
in  the  most  active  campaign  in  the  annals  of  Mexican  history,  this 
government  still  found  time  to  take  up  the  efficient  political  and  ad- 
ministrative reorganization  of  the  country. 

Whoever  may  know  something  of  our  history,  and  may  view  with  impar- 
tiality the  long  and  complicated  process  of  formation  of  our  nationality,  from  the 
pre-Cortes  period — through  the  troublous  time  of  the  Conquest,  the  colonial 
days  under  the  viceroys,  the  wars  of  Independence,  the  convulsions  only  calmed 
by  the  iron  hand  of  Diaz,  through  nearly  a  century  of  autonomous  existence — until 
our  own  tune — will  be  bound  to  discover  in  the  salient  manifestations  of  the  life  of 
our  national  organism,  the  unequivocal  symptoms  and  stigmata  of  a  serious 
pathological  state,  brought  about  by  two  principal  agents:  the  loathsome  corruption 
of  the  upper  classes,  and  the  inconscience  and  wretchedness  of  the  lower. 

The  iniquitous  means  used  by  Don  Porfirio  Diaz  to  impose  peace  during  more 
than  thirty  years,  not  only  annulled  all  efforts  tending  to  remedy  the  evils  dis- 
cussed, but  rather  determined  their  greater  intensity.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  it 
satisfied  the  omnivorous  appetites  of  his  friends  and  satellites;  it  crushed  and 
caused  the  criminal  disappearance  of  whoever  failed  to  render  tribute  or  bow  to 
his  will;  it  fostered  cowards  and  sycophants,  repressing  systematically  and  with 
an  iron  hand,  every  impulse  of  manliness  and  truth.  It  placed  the  administra- 
tion of  justice  at  the  unconditional  disposal  of  the  rich,  paying  not  the  slightest 
heed  to  the  lamentations  of  the  poor.  In  a  word,  it  increased  the  immorality 
and  corruption  of  the  small  and  privileged  ruling  class  and  increased  in  conse- 
quence the  sufferings  of  the  immense  majority,  grovelling  in  ignorance  and  hunger. 
Therefore,  the  thirty  or  more  years  of  praetorian  peace  but  served  to  deepen  still 
further  the  secular  chasm  of  hatred  and  rancor  separating  the  two  classes  men- 
tioned, and  to  provoke  necessarily  and  fatally  the  social  convulsion,  begun  in  1910, 
which  has  shaken  the  whole  country. 

The  three  aspects  of  the  problem  which  I  have  presented — the  economic, 
intellectual  and  moral — coincide  with  the  purposes  of  education  through  schools,  as 
ideally  dreamed  of  by  thinkers,  that  is  as  "Institutions  whose  object  is  to  guide 
and  control  the  formation  of  habits  to  realize  the  highest  social  good."  But  our  schools, 


26  The  Annals  of  the  American  Academy 

unfortunately,  have  not  yet  acquired  the  necessary  strength  to  assuage  in  an  ap- 
preciable degree,  the  horrible  ambient  immorality,  or  to  counterweigh  its  inevitable 
effects  of  social  dissolution. 

The  true  problem  of  Mexico  consists  therefore  in  hygienizing  the  population 
physically  and  morally,  and  in  endeavoring  to  find  through  all  means  available,  an 
improvement  in  the  precarious  economic  situation  of  our  proletariat. 

The  part  of  the  solution  of  the  problem  which  corresponds  to  the  Department 
of  Education  or  to  the  municipalities,  must  be  realized,  by  establishing  and  main- 
taining the  greatest  possible  number  of  schools.  To  do  this  their  cost  must  be  re- 
duced by  means  of  a  rational  simplification  of  the  organization  and  of  the  school 
programs.  This  must  be  done  unthout  losing  sight  of  the  fact  that  its  preferential 
orientations  should  be  marked  by:  (I)  the  essentially  technological  character  of  the 
teaching,  to  cooperate  with  all  the  other  organs  of  the  Government,  in  the  work 
of  economic  improvement  of  the  masses,  and  (2)  the  diffusion  of  the  elemental 
principles  of  hygiene,  as  an  efficient  protection  for  the  race. 

"And  finally,  as  the  medium  constitutes  an  educational  factor  more  powerful 
than  the  schools  themselves,  the  country  must,  before  and  above  all,  organize  its 
public  administration  upon  a  basis  of  absolute  morality." 

Restricting  myself  to  the  purpose  of  this  address,  it  will  in  con- 
clusion suffice  to  say  that  even  when  the  constitutionalist  govern- 
ment ruled  but  an  insignificant  portion  of  the  country  there  were 
sent  to  the  principal  centers  of  culture  of  the  United  States  several 
hundred  teachers  to  investigate  and  secure  data  to  reform  school 
matters  in  Mexico.  This  was  done  at  a  time  when  dollars  were  of 
great  importance  for  the  purchase  of  war  material. 

Subsequently,  in  spite  of  the  countless  obstacles  which  seemed 
to  obstruct  every  step  of  the  government,  the  number  of  schools 
has  been  greatly  increased.  It  is  not  much  greater  than  it  was 
before  the  Revolution  and  in  some  states  the  number  has  been 
doubled.  There  have  been  effected,  besides,  important  works  of 
city  improvement  in  Mexico,  Saltillo,  Queretaro,  Vera  Cruz,  etc., 
and  the  mouth  of  the  Panuco  River  is  about  to  be  dredged.  It  has 
been  specified  in  the  respective  contracts  that  the  soil  taken  out  is 
to  be  used  to  fill  in  the  marshy  zone  around  Tampico,  thus  elimi- 
nating the  chief  cause  of  the  city's  unhealthfulness. 

In  short,  in  order  that  the  government  which  has  arisen  from 
the  constitutionalist  revolution  may  realize  its  program  of  public 
betterment,  which  implies  the  physical  and  moral  hygienizing  of 
Mexico,  it  is  only  necessary  to  give  it  time.  Only  some  magic  art 
could  transform  in  a  moment  a  group  of  human  beings  into  an  angel 
choir,  or  a  piece  of  land  into  a  paradise. 


THE  MEANING  OF  THE  MEXICAN  REVOLUTION 

BY  HON.  JUAN  B.  ROJO, 

Counsellor  of  the  State  Department  of  Mexico  and  Secretary  of  the  Mexican  Section 
of  the  American  and  Mexican  Joint  Commission 

The  Mexican  Revolution  is  a  revolution.  I  use  these  words, 
which  are  not  my  own,  to  emphasize  the  true  character  of  our  strug- 
gle; and  as  I  know  that  in  the  United  States  as  well  as  in  foreign 
lands,  public  opinion  is  at  sea  regarding  us,  due  to  the  efforts  of 
those  who  strive  to  resurrect  obsolete  systems,  I  have  thought  it 
my  duty,  as  a  Mexican  who  loves  his  native  land,  to  try  to  explain, 
however  deficiently,  the  real  motives  of  this  vast  social  movement. 
This  excuses  my  efforts,  such  as  they  are,  before  so  distinguished  a 
gathering,  in  a  language  practically  unknown  to  me. 

The  founts  of  alleged  information  are  responsible  for  the  de- 
rogatory conception  of  Mexico  in  the  minds  of  most  Americans. 
Writers  of  overheated  imagination  depict  Mexico  as  a  land  of  mental 
as  well  as  physical  quakes,  where  everything  is  perpetually  boiling, — 
the  climate,  the  politics,  and  the  passions.  Men  of  business  look 
upon  Mexico  as  an  alluring  field  for  capital,  for  investment  (or 
rather  for  exploitation),  in  the  most  onerous  sense  of  the  word. 
The  reader  in  general,  reflecting  on  the  morning  pabulum  of  his 
favorite  newspaper,  believes  that  the  revolution  is  but  a  kaleido- 
scopic succession  of  battles  and  skirmishes,  with  the  leaders  now  on 
top,  and  now  underneath,  something  like  dogs  and  cats  in  a  barrel. 
Even  the  fair-minded  cannot  know  what  is  going  on  south  of  the 
River  Grande,  as  they  cannot  know  the  truth. 

In  all  social  upheavals  which  have  to  be  decided  on  the  field 
of  battle,  the  far-away  observer  is  apt  to  lose  sight  of  the  motives 
and  purposes,  the  psychological  energy.  He  only  rivets  his  atten- 
tion upon  the  warrior's  bloody  business,  which  is  but  the  exte- 
riorization  of  thought's  evolution.  In  all  its  history,  from  the  strug- 
gle for  independence,  Mexico  has  struck  some  notes,  has  cleared 
some  paths,  which  have  awakened  the  interest  of  the  United  States. 

The  struggle  to  throw  off  the  Spanish  yoke,  though  it  did  not 
awake  any  special  interest  in  the  United  States,  did  at  least  elicit 

[27] 


28  The  Annals  of  the  American  Academy 

its  sympathy.  In  truth  the  subjects  of  mutual  interest  between  the 
budding  North  American  democracy,  and  the  secular  Spanish 
colony  were  few.  Investments  of  American  capital,  and  American 
settlers  were  barely  noticeable.  It  was  after  the  fall  of  Maxi- 
milian's empire,  and  the  triumph  of  the  liberals  in  Mexico  that  re- 
lations really  began.  In  that  critical  period  of  our  history,  when 
Napoleon  III  decided  to  impose  by  force  an  imperial  throne  upon 
free  America,  the  spirit  of  justice  and  foresight  of  the  American 
people  awoke  to  the  danger,  and  the  United  States  helped  us  in  a 
positive  manner  to  regain  our  freedom  and  develop  our  individual- 
ity. Slowly,  capital  and  technical  skill  came  to  work  among  us,  and 
we  received  them  with  open  arms. 

Mexico  is  a  great  field  for  endeavor  and  capital,  and  fortunes 
have  been  made  overnight.  Therein  lay  the  red  flag  of  danger. 
Enormous  regions  on  the  north  were  surrendered  for  a  song  to  would- 
be  colonists  who  were  to  transform  them  into  rose  gardens,  yet  the 
wilderness  still  exists  and  the  rose  gardens  are  not  in  evidence. 
The  Mexican  government's  concessions  were  utilized  to  exploit, 
not  the  land  but  the  concession.  This  benefited  many  but  not  the 
country  itself  which  lost  untold  millions  of  acres  solely  for  the  ad- 
vantage of  speculators,  who  had  no  intention  of  making  needed 
improvements  or  of  creating  anything  except  trouble. 

If  it  was  the  case  of  an  "infant  industry,"  it  was  smothered 
with  privileges  and  franchises  to  such  an  extent  that  if  a  competitor 
tried  later  to  enter  the  field,  it  found  its  efforts  of  no  use  in  view  of 
the  first  one's  monopoly.  It  was  simply  that  the  first  got  all,  and 
the  others  found  the  field  closed.  It  would  be  out  of  place  to 
cite  examples  in  these  cursory  remarks,  but  there  were  many 
companies  with  no  competition  to  face  who  dreamed  only  of  their 
privileges.  They  did  nothing,  and  prevented  others  from  doing 
anything.  I  must  say  that  free  competition  appeals  much  more  to 
me.  In  struggles  of  all  kinds,  biological,  social,  and  economic,  the 
triumph  goes  to  the  fittest.  I  cannot  believe  that  individuals,  or 
industries,  really  require  the  state's  crutch  in  order  to  progress. 

The  Mexican  revolution  understands  the  need  of  developing 
the  country;  that  progress  depends  on  work.  It  wishes  to  unshackle 
opportunity,  and  open  the  doors  to  those  who  wish  to  work  and  to 
get  an  adequate  return  for  their  efforts.  Instead  of  accumulating 
all  of  the  wealth  in  the  grip  of  a  handful  who  adopted  a  dog-in-the- 


Sanitary  and  Educational  Problems  of  Mexico  29 

manger  policy  towards  development,  the  revolution  wishes  to  help 
the  average  man  and  to  destroy  the  treadmill  of  hateful  privilege. 

Finally,  the  revolution  has  been  called  inimical  to  foreigners, 
and  it  is  alleged  that  it  denies  them  their  rights.  This  is  a  phe- 
nomenon like  those  Spencer  called  "errors  of  social  perspective." 
For  a  long  time  written  law  existed  in  Mexico  merely  as  a  matter 
of  form  and  only  in  books.  Its  guarantees  and  its  sanctions  were 
never  applied  for  the  benefit  of  the  common  people.  Only  foreign- 
ers, and  especially  those  of  such  high  position  that  they  could  bring 
their  influence  to  bear  upon  their  diplomatic  representatives, 
could  secure  the  application  of  the  law  through  diplomatic  channels, 
provided  such  law  was  favorable  to  them.  A  rigorous  law  was 
always  applied  against  the  Mexican. 

From  all  this  there  resulted  the  fact  that  thus  the  foreigner  was 
aided  and  the  Mexican  was  at  a  serious  disadvantage  in  the  enjoy- 
ment of  rights  and  in  the  protection  of  the  laws.  It  is  now  the  pur- 
pose of  the  revolution  that  all  may  equally  enjoy  such  benefits. 
The  revolution  withdraws  nothing  from  the  foreigners  that  they  had 
before,  but  it  grants  to  Mexicans  what  was  denied  to  them.  Hence 
the  astonishment  that  for  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  Mexico 
the  equality  of  all  before  the  law  is  sought. 

I  wish  to  make  this  point  clear.  Our  purpose  is  not  to  lower 
the  status  of  the  foreigners.  We  desire  that  they  come  and  work 
among  us,  and  contribute  to  the  nation's  development  through 
their  capital  and  labor  and  skill.  But  we  also  wish  that  the  Mexi- 
can too  may  know  that  in  his  own  country  he  will  receive  similar 
justice. 

If  my  labored  words  have  not  been  well  understood,  they  may 
yet  cast  some  light  upon  the  points  which  I  wish  to  make  clear. 
If  I  have  secured  this  result  I  shall  consider  myself  happy.  I  beg 
this  distinguished  gathering  to  excuse  my  many  deficiencies  in  the 
use  of  a  language  that  is  not  my  own. 


CLOSING  REMARKS  BY  THE  PRESIDENT  OF  THE 

ACADEMY 

Permit  me,  in  the  first  place,  to  say  to  the  members  of  the 
American  and  Mexican  Joint  Commission,  how  deeply  we  appre- 
ciate the  privilege  of  welcoming  you  to  this  special  session,  which  is 
being  held  in  your  honor.  We  all  have  the  feeling  that  in  the  con- 
duct of  her  international  relations  the  United  States  must  stand  for 
new  and  higher  standards  of  international  dealing.  Jealousy  and 
distrust  must  give  way  to  frankness,  helpfulness  and  cooperation. 
If  there  is  any  one  mission  which  the  privileged  position  of  the 
United  States  calls  upon  her  to  perform  it  is  to  sound  a  new  note  in 
international  intercourse.  It  is  because  the  work  of  this  Commis- 
sion is  the  expression  of  these  higher  standards  that  we  deem  it  a  priv- 
ilege to  do  honor  to  the  men  who  are  conducting  these  negotiations. 
We  realize  that  the  situation  bristles  with  difficulties;  that  the 
problems  involved  are  delicate  and  undoubtedly  at  times  baffling, 
but  it  is  no  less  true  that  it  is  only  through  such  negotiations  that 
a  permanent  and  effective  settlement  can  be  reached;  a  settlement 
not  only  in  harmony  with  the  dignity  of  both  countries,  but  one 
calculated  to  allay  animosities,  promote  mutual  confidence  and  es- 
tablish a  relationship  which  will  contribute  to  the  peace  and  pros- 
perity of  both  nations. 

We  desire  to  avail  ourselves  of  your  presence  to  give  you  a 
message  which  we  hope  you  will  carry  with  you  to  your  people. 
We  earnestly  hope  that  the  mission  which  has  brought  you 
to  this  country  will  be  entirely  successful;  that  the  difficult  and 
delicate  problems  pending  between  the  United  States  and  Mexico 
will  be  solved  to  the  satisfaction  of  both  countries.  We  hope, 
furthermore,  that  your  domestic  problems  will  be  solved  in  a  man- 
ner no  less  satisfactory.  The  people  of  the  United  States  desire  to 
see  a  Mexico  prosperous,  progressive,  independent  and  sovereign. 
We  desire  this  both  for  your  sake  and  for  our  own.  Our  welfare, 
our  peace  of  mind,  depend  in  large  measure  on  the  establishment  of 
cordial  relations  with  our  neighbors.  You  carry  with  you,  therefore, 
the  earnest  hope  of  these  two  associations  for  the  peace  and  pros- 
perity of  your  country.  You  may  rest  assured  that  every  effort 

[30] 


Closing  Remarks  by  the  President  31 

in  Mexico  to  improve  the  condition  of  the  masses  of  her  people  will 
find  a  responsive  echo  in  the  United  States.  In  this  work  you  have 
not  only  our  good  wishes,  but  the  assurance  that  if  we  can  in 
any  way  be  helpful  in  the  furtherance  of  this  great  plan  we  will 
deem  it  a  privilege  to  cooperate.  The  vast  educational  agencies 
of  this  country  are  at  your  service  in  the  solution  of  your  educational 
problems;  the  public  health  agencies  of  the  United  States  are  ready 
to  assist  in  the  solution  of  the  sanitary  problems.  It  is  our  earnest 
hope  that  through  a  policy  of  frank  and  cordial  cooperation  there 
will  be  established  in  the  relations  between  Mexico  and  the  United 
States  a  new  standard  of  international  helpfulness  and  solidarity. 


INDEX 


BONILLAS,  YON  AGIO.  The  Character 
and  the  Progress  of  the  Revolution, 
18-21. 

CABRERA,  Luis.  The  Mexican  Revo- 
lution— Its  Causes,  Purposes  and 
Results,  1-17. 

Civilization:  obligations,  23;  types,F8. 

CLOSING  REMARKS.  L.  S.  Rowe,  30- 
31. 

Foreigners,  status,  29. 
FOREWORD.     L.  S.  Rowe,  iii. 

Huerta,  military  government,  19. 
Hygiene:  private,  23;  public,  23. 

Mexican  Commission,  work,  30. 

people,  welfare,  16. 

Mexican  Revolution:  development, 
15-16;  purposes,  iii,  19;  reconstruc- 
tion, 18;  scientific  interpretation,  11; 
triumph,  19. 

MEXICAN  REVOLUTION,  THE — ITS 
CAUSES,  PURPOSES  AND  RESULTS. 
Luis  Cabrera,  1-17. 

MEXICAN  REVOLUTION,  THE  MEAN- 
ING OF  THE.  Juan  B.  Rojo,  27-29. 

Mexico:  agrarian  problem,  7;- average 
mortality,  24;  chaos,  2-3;  commer- 
cial problem,  8;  economic  develop- 
ment, 7;  education,  5-6;  geograph- 
ical data,  3-4;  industrial  problem, 


8;  international  problems,  9-10; 
natural  resources,  7-8;  political 
problem,  8-9;  population,  4;  prob- 
lem, 26;  reconstruction,  11,  14-15; 
relations  between  United  States  and, 
9-10,  31;  religious  problem,  6-7;  re- 
organization, 25;  true  conditions,  2; 
United  States  and,  28. 
MEXICO,  THE  SANITARY  AND  EDUCA- 
TIONAL PROBLEMS  OF.][  Alberto^J. 
Pani,  22-26. 

PANI,  ALBERTO  J.  The  Sanitary  and 
Educational  Problems  of  Mexico, 
22-26. 

Public  opinion,  moulding,  1. 

Reconstruction,  foundations,  13. 
Revolution:   meaning,  12;   stages,  12- 

13. 
REVOLUTION,  THE  CHARACTER  AND  THE 

PROGRESS  OF  THE.     Ygnacio  Bonil- 

las,  18-21. 
ROJO,  JUAN  B.     The  Meaning  of  the 

Mexican  Revolution,  27-29. 
ROWE,  L.  S.    Closing  Remarks,  30-31; 

Foreword,  iii. 

United  States:  educational  agencies, 
31;  international  relations,  30; 
Mexico  and,  28;  relations  between 
Mexico  and,  9-10,  31. 


32 


The  November  (1916)  ANNALS 


ON 


AMERICA'S 
CHANGING  INVESTMENT  MARKET 

Edited  by  E.  M.   PATTERSON,  Ph.  D. 


yarding  the  AXNALS  I  must  say  I  was  aina/.. 

information.     One  can  hardly  afford  to  skip  an  article,  and  it  is  to  be 
hoped  that  our  men  of  aff.  iind  sufficient  time  to  look  into  the 

articles  contained  therein.'' 

JAMES  J.  SHIRLEY,  M.E.E.E.,  New  York  City. 


"la  t&e  midst  of  the  unpreeed  phi  ...ad  and  with  ;>!.. 

mal  conditions  at  home,  your  Xov  •••:<     issue  on  AMERICA'S 

CHAXGIXG    INVESTMENT    MAllKI-T    by     eminent    authb! 
helps  wonderfully  t<     •'  .  \  of  our  transformation  from  a 

debtor  to  a  creditor  nation.  This  transformation  takes  us  into  the 
international  field  for  investments,  and  thus  adds  new  problems  to  our 
ever  expanding  progi 

ANDREW  JAY  FRAME,  President, 
Waukesha  National  Bank,  Waukesha,  Wis. 


;  ••••••      :          rong  food  for  thought  on 

any 'allied  su  -.  it  is  an  awesoiih 

•  'left  any  pnrticular  contribution  for  specific  mention, 
one  of  them  is  worth}-  of  several  careful  rending-'  when  one's  mind 
is  free  from  every  other  subject  and  ott<  -ntration  at 

their  best.    Perhaps  1  was  most  ini)-: 

graph   of   Mr.    Waiting's   l-iconomic    Internationalism;   the   instn, 
artici'  -..•.•hange  by  Mr.  Zimii  : 

of  M-  Mr.  Shirley." 

E.   B.    JONES,  President,  The  Colonial  Trust  Company, 
Philadelphia. 


OF 


Philadelphia 


President 

L.  S.  ROWE,  Ph.D.  University  of  Pennsylvania 
Vice- Presidents 

CARL  KELSEY,  Ph.D.  CHARLES  W.  DABNEY,  Ph.D. 

University  of  Pennsylvania  University  of  Cincinnati 

DAVID  P.  BARROWS,  Ph.D. 
University  of  California 

Secretary  Counsel 

J.  P.  LICHTENBERGER,  Ph.D.         HON.  CLINTON  ROGERS  WOODRUFF 
University  of  Pennsylvania  North  American  Building,  Philadelphia 

Treasurer  Librarian 

CHARLES  J.  RHOADS,  Esq.  JAMES  T.  YOUNG,  Ph.D. 

Federal  Reserve  Bank,  Philadelphia  University  of  Pennsylvania 


General  Advisory  Committee 

RT.  HON.  ARTHUR  J.  BALFOUR,  M.  P.j  PROF.  W.  W.  FOLWELL 
London,  England  University  of  Minnesota 

PROF.  C.  F.  BASTABLE  i  HON.  LYMAN  J.  GAGE 

Dublin  University  San  Diego,  Cal. 


PROF.  P.  VIDAL  DE  LA  BLACHE 
University  of  Paris 


PROF.  CARL  GRUNBERG 
University  of  Wien 


PROF.  F.  W.  BLACKMAR  I  SENOR  ANTONIO  HUNEEUS 
University  of  Kansas  Santiago,  Chile 

PROF.  EDWIN  CANNAN,  LL.D.  PROF.  J.  W.  JENKS 
Oxford,  England  New  York  University 

DR.  LUIS  M.  DRAGO  PROF.  W.  LOTZ 

Buenos  Aires,  Argentina  University  of  Miinchen 

PROF.  L.  DUPRIEZ  !  PROF.  BERNARD  MOSES 
University  of  Louvain  University  of  California 

PROF.  R.  T.  ELY  j  DR.  JAVIER  PRADO  y  UGARTECHE 
University  of  Wisconsin  Univ.  of  San  Marcos,  Lima,  Peru 

PROF.  HENRY  W.  FARNAM  j  HON.  HENRY  WADE  ROGERS 
Yale  University  New  Haven,  Conn. 

PROF.  CARLO  F.  FERRARIS  HON.  HANNIS  TAYLOR,  LL.D. 
Royal  University,  Padua,  Italy  Washington,  D.  C. 


V 


Binder 

Gaylord  Bros. 

Makers 


